New Beneteau 50' 'Sense'

[YADO]

This just showed up in my email.
More eye candy for monohullers.
It's a new Beneteau series called "Sense" and the video is posted on youtube.

YouTube - New Beneteau Sense

[Zanshin]

I read up on that new model today as well, Beneteau has some web pages on the boat, but those are still only available in French.

[YADO]

Zanshin,
With few exceptions, when it comes to US built Beneteaus, if you you've seen one, you've seen them all. However, I hate to say it, but I'm looking forward to seeing this boat at the Annapolis Sailboat Show. Here is the data on the "Sense" from the US Beneteau web site and some of it is pretty intriguing; hybrid engines, ready for renewable (I guess wired), large tanks, etc.
Cheers,
YADO

A 50 foot SENSE will be make it's American Premiere at the United States Sailboat show in Annapolis October 7th.

Life on board SENSE is organized around three main living areas, from stern to stem:
1. Exterior living with ample bathing platform, isolated helm position and a cockpit
width never seen before.
2. Daytime life in perfect harmony with the exterior: saloon and galley.
3. Life after dark at the forward end of the boat: bedrooms and bathrooms.

An innovative cockpit design
BENETEAU has designed a lowered secure cockpit which positively alters life on board. Thanks to this innovation, SENSE combines stretched and flowing lines with ease of access to the sea and the salon.

The ultra wide and spacious cockpit is designed to accommodate sailors and guests in novel and distinctive spaces, free from the constraints normally generated by aft cabins.

Under the cockpit there is a technical area with tremendous storage.; plus all the systems, machinery and deck equipment are brought together under the cockpit to ensure that noise is separated from the living area.

A well protected living space having perfect communication with the cockpit and outdoors:
The companionway is extremely convenient, with access to the salon by just 3 steps with a 45° angle to provide safe and easy movement, while everywhere the generously wide hand rails ensure safety for movement on board.

A wide glass area and openings on both sides of the companionway promote a sense of harmony allowing life below and above deck to blend seamlessly together.

Layouts: 2 cabins, 2 heads with a choice of a 3rd sleeping cabin or an office are available according to each owner's preference.

Life after dark at the forward end of the boat: bed and bathrooms
The owner's bedroom and that of his VIP guests have ensuite bathrooms with a separate shower.

This means that the cabins are better ventilated and privacy is emphasized with the bedrooms insulated from cockpit and dock noise.

These choices confirm the commitment of SENSE to provide increased levels of comfort to the owners and their guests.

A boat that simplifies life on board
On board SENSE, priority is given to the pleasure of being on the water.including an innovative deck plan with the controls (winches, halyards, genoa sheets, etc.) located aft of the ″relaxing″ cockpit area. The mainsheet is led back to a fixed arch which allows the companionway to be unrestricted.

More freedom!
SENSE is designed for sailing with complete freedom.
· The fresh water capacity can be increased to 193 gallons.
· The fuel tanks hold up to 219 gallons.
· The boat is ready for renewable energies (solar, wind power)
􀂾 SENSE for the self-sufficient travellers.
SENSE is also adapted for tomorrow's technologies:
· Hybrid engines
· Boat-handling assistance
Additionally, SENSE has the option of a motorized companionway door, electric tables electric blinds, 32" LCD LED pop-up TV, recharging station and many other optional equipment items.

SENSE: seaworthy boats designed for sailing on a more even keel
Comfortable cruising does not have to mean restricting comfort and therefore pleasure to time at anchor or at a marina slip.The hull design has been created in collaboration with Berret Racoupeau Yacht Design, to deliver maximum performance at 15° heeling angle instead of the normal 20°. The advantage of this is clear - movement around the boat while sailing is safer and easier.
The trio of BENETEAU, Nauta Design and Berret/Racoupeau together form a team of proven and complementary talents, who already have to their credit the complete renewal of the 9 models of the OCEANIS range.

Interior beauty
Insight into the latest design trends
The quality of the design being fundamental to the well-being of the crew, SENSE extends an invitation to view interiors that are elegant and contemporary in style.
Alpi fruitwood finish with defined pleasing grain, bleached oak laminated cabin sole, ″homestyle″ upholstery, synthetic resin work surfaces with built in sinks and high-tech equipment have been selected with care in collaboration with the Nauta design studio. As a nod to multifuncitonalism; certain items fold away when not in use such as the stovetop, TV, seats, etc.

SENSE: seaworthy boats which provide owners and their guests an exceptional quality of life on board.

Specifications:
Yacht Design: Berret - Racoupeau
Interior Design: Nauta Design
Hull length: 49'
Max beam: 15' 11"
Light displacement: 31,195 lbs
Deep draft: 6' 11"
Shallow draft: 5' 10"
Engine: 75HP
Fuel capacity: 110 gal
Fresh water capacity: 140 gal

For more information visit sense.beneteau.com

The SENSE 50 will make its North American debut at the United States Sailboat Show taking place October 7th-11th in Annapolis, MD.

[Pete7]

Looks like the Moody 45 that cam out a couple of years ago

YouTube - Moody 45DS breaks the mould of sailing boats

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Pete

[YADO]

Pete7,
It does have a similar outline to the Moody.
Beneteau must have read the Cruisers Forum preference poll:
Monohull 128 37.76% Multihull 211 62.24%

With the Sense monohull, Beneteau wants to make a bigger, more comfortable, platform for socializing and wants to level the boat out from 20 to 15 degrees optimum heel.
YADO

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by YADO

This just showed up in my email.
More eye candy for monohullers.
It's a new Beneteau series called "Sense" and the video is posted on youtube.

Pete is right; of course it's a shameless copy of the Moody 45. How influential is Moody (or is it Dehler). I wouldn't have thought that such a serious company like Beneteau would go in hook, line and sinker like this. All I can say is there must be something to this new direction in sailboat design. Doesn't appeal to me, but I'm trying to keep an open mind.

[claudius2000]

How do you avoid things rolling off the rear of the boat, including kids, pets, etc.?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by claudius2000

How do you avoid things rolling off the rear of the boat, including kids, pets, etc.?

I don't know. I don't like the open transom. I guess you get a feel for the ocean going by but how scary would that be in big following seas.

So Beneteau have followed Bill Dixon and Moody (Hanse) into this new territory. How interesting. Is this the wave of the future? Triangular boats with massively wide and flat sterns, cockpits at or near the same level as saloons, lots of glass. Lots of form stability and little heeling.

Seems like moving monohull sailboats very far towards power boats, and towards catamarans, at the same time.

I can see some advantages to that kind of layout but looks like a huge step backwards in terms of seaworthiness. There is a Moody 45 berthed near our boat, and boy it looks more strange in person than it does in the photos. Huge freeboard and windage -- how does it sail, I wonder? Would you want to be on it in rough weather? Hmmm.

On the other hand, that very high saloon with those huge windows -- like a house setting on top of the deck -- in good weather, that would be a fabulous place to be.

But somehow it just doesn't look like a sailboat to me. It looks like a powerboat with auxilary sails to my eye.

http://www.dixonyachtdesign.com/desi...ody45_home.htm

[Sail IC]

Over a long time boats has become beamier with the max beam moved aft where now the stern is almost as wide as max beam. However, designers has still applied a classical layout with forecabin-saloon-galley/head-aftcabin which has been the norm from where boats were narrow and max-beam almost symetrical between bow/stern.

If now designers is starting to do very different layouts taking advantage of modern hullshapes better I find very exciting. As always with new thinking, there will be good ideas and bad ones where the good will be broadly adopted.

Btw, a solution to the wide open stern might be what Bavaria has done on their new 45 cruiser, a hydralic stern/swim-platform.

I don't like the look of the Moody 45, but to have indoor+outdoor sitting and galley on one level is very appealing. The beneteau sense is far less radical and will perhaps sell better.

Long distance cruisers will probably be last to move to new ideas as there is a certain value of time tested when you are in the middle of the big blue.

[speedoo]

"Under the cockpit there is a technical area with tremendous storage.; plus all the systems, machinery and deck equipment are brought together under the cockpit to ensure that noise is separated from the living area."

Hmmm. Lots of weight now in the stern that could have been more amidships with a center cockpit design. A definite negative for seaworthiness.

Lots of nifty features but overall it's not a design that I like,

[zottolop]

I have visited the boat in Annapolis and liked it (actually my wife loved it )
The lay out is very intelligent. the space you get in the cockpit is extremely pleasant and the interior very comfortable.
seaworthy ? have not tried it but a friend of mine sailed it in Cannes in rough seas and said the boat performance is great.
It is a great family boat , with space for every one aboard to enjoy.
Liked so much that bought one and will be delivered in Miami in February
keep you all posted

[YADO]

So you bought one, good on you. I got to the show early on Friday, minutes after opening, and there was already a long line to see the SENSE. It has to have the largest cockpit I've seen on a boat that size, and would be great for socializing. On some of the dual wheel boats, the chart plotter is 3 feet in front of the wheels and tucked under a table, impossible to either read of reach. On the SENSE I think it was "sensibly" placed! My wife remembers that "it looked bright and light and comfortable".
Did you the joystick docking package? I'm looking at the video and it is a kool looking boat. Here's a video from the Annapolis Sailboat Show, with the easy docking package in use. To quote someone off camera, "That kicks ass!!".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D3ch...layer_embedded

[zottolop]

I did not buy The option with joystick because it was too expensive. 25.000 Euros and I think that there is a limit for those facilities in a boat otherwise all the seamanship will be gone

[zottolop]

Originally Posted by claudius2000

How do you avoid things rolling off the rear of the boat, including kids, pets, etc.?

There is a partition that raises when you are Sailing
Pretty cool

[Sailorcanuck]

Was on the Sense at the Annapolis show - Here's my 2 cents:

Definitely a copy of the Moody 45 however executed better with the main cabin a bit lower in the boat and therefore not a crazy high coach roof like the Moody. The raise/ lower bridge deck is right from the Moody but the Moody has a really high (12 inches or more) bullwark. The Sense's main cabin felt a bit truncated and it would have been better of give up a foot of cockpit length to lengthen the main cabin by a foot or so.

IMHO people that get all whacked up about open transoms are missing the fact that it is just a psychological thing. They want the boat to feel like a bathtub with no low points to let water in. In most modern open transom boats the height of the deck is higher than the transoms of many old classic sailboats that get sentimental rave reviews by traditionalists yet the old boats don't have the inherent aft bouyancy that these modern boats have. The open transom boats also have a high brdge deck that won't allow water below any more than the transom would have except the cockpit will drain so fast that it's not as much of an issue.

My last delivery was from Newport to Bermuda to Tortola last November in a J44. Here's an article on the boat we sailed - PracticallySailing presents Joe Cooper ). We had 30+ knots close to the nose on the way to Bermuda and going on watch felt like 10 guys with buckets of salt water were constantly trying to get you.

The J44 is a seaworthy boat however it doesn't have a lot of freeboard and it's a wet ride. The height of the aft deck is not much higher than my Hanse 371. Everybody always seems too paranoid about waves pooping the boat but in heavy weather a trailing sea generally passes under the boat and if the waves break right above the boat's transom and fill the cockpit, you just want the water to get out fast (hence the open transom versus a couple of 1.25 inch hoses trying to drain your cockpit seacocks. Remember the bridge deck at the entry to the cabin is higher than the open transom and it won't let water get below.

OK, Robert Perry I know you're out there reading these blogs - my challenge to you to drop in on this thread like you have in the past and enlighten us.